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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

ChapltelD Copyright No 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE 



PROVINCE OF ULSTER 



BY 



DANIEL LEWIS, M. D. 




NEW YORK, 

II. T. Ronalds Printing Company, 



O- 






Copyright 1896, 

by 

DANIEL LEWIS. 



TO MY ULSTER FRIENDS. 



PREFACE. 



At the meeting of the Alumni Association of 
Alfred Univeisity, Alfred, New York, held during 
Commencement week, 1895, an annual course of 
Alumni Lectures was established. The following 
pages are essentially one of those lectures delivered 
by the Author, at Alfred, December 19th, 1895. 

252 Madison Ave., D. L. 

New York. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Area — Division into Provinces — The Antrim Coast — 

Rathlin Island — The River Lagan — Lough 

Neagh and its Legends. 

CHAPTER II. 

Lough Erne — Legend of the Lough — County Tyrone 

— Armagh, the Garden of Ireland — The Geology of 

Ulster — Gold — Irish Pearls — Legendary History 

of the First Settlement of Ulster. 

CHAPTER III. 

The Siege of Derry — The Battle of Enniskillen — Car- 

rickfergus Castle — St. Patrick's Birthplace— Early 

Education— His Mission to Ireland — 

Burial Plac^ at Dovvnpatrick. 

CHAPTER IV. 

S hools Established by St. Patrick — The Great School 
at Bangor — The Schools and Colleges of the 
Present Day — Ancient Literature — The 
Book of Kells and the Book of Ar- 
magh — Celtic Crosses — Round 
Towers — Music — The Ori- 
gin of the Harp. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Ulster People of the Present Day — Religious Sects 

— The Old Dublin Parliaments — Benefits from the 

Union with Great Britain — Complaints Against 

the Government — Former Oppression of 

Irish Industries — The Land Question. 

CHAPTER \ I. 

U-lster Has Indicated the only Solution of the Irish 
Question — The Imperial City of Belfast — 
The Enterprise and Thrift of her Peo- 
ple — The Unionist's Attitude 
toward Mr. Gladstone. 

CHAPTER Vn. 

From Belfast to Bangor — Th« Irish Jaunting Car — 

Helen's Tower — The Eastern Coast — Across 

Country to Belleek and Ballyshannon 

— Our Ulster Friends — 

" Erin oh Erin." 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Map of Ireland, showin<< the Counties of Ulster ... 
Carrick-A-Rede Bridge ....... ^ 

Antrim Coast, near Larne ---..... 5 

Garron Tower .----.... 8 

Muckross Head — County Donegal - - . . _ 15 

Farm Scene — County Tyrone ---... jg 

Carrickfergus Castle ..----..24 

Downpatrick Cathedral — St. Patrick's Burial Place - - 2S 

Celtic Cross and Round Tower — Devenish Island - 33 

High Street — Belfast -...-.. ^y 

Donegal I'lace, Belfast - - - - - - ^3 

Alexandra Park — Belfast ------ .50 

Portrait of Mr. Gladstone ---„.. 50 

Jaunting Car ----------55 

Helen's Tower -------.-* jy 

Salmon Leap — Ballyshannon ------ i^S 




MAP OF IRELAND. 

SHOWING THE COUNTIES OF ULSTER. 



THE PROVINCE OF ULSTER. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE inflexible loyalty of Ulster to the Unionist 
cause during the prolonged struggle for so- 
called Irish Home Rule, is one of the striking 
features of English politics. There is no doubt that 
the determined opposition of the people of this 
province exerted a potent influence in the overthrow 
of the Liberal government at the last election, not so 
much by their threat of armed resistance to an Irish 
parliament as by the irresistible force of their con- 
servatism. 

America is so closely allied to Great Britain, both 
socially and commercially, that any great crisis in 
either country immediately disturbs the tranquility 
of the other in a marked degree, and for this reason 
the Irish question is one of especial interest to us. 

We are natural allies of any state which is 
struggling for freedom, and have been sympathizers 
with Ireland without a careful study, as it ap- 
pears to me, of the real bearing of the question 
upon international relations, or of the motives of 



those agitators who ha\c championed the scheme for 
a DubHn parhament. It has been my pri\'ilege, dur- 
ing several visits to Ireland, to become acquainted 
with the physical characters of Ulster, and to know 
her people, to observe their customs, habits and 
characteristics. The study of the development of 
this people of the north, from the ancient days of 
paganism through the \arious stages to their present 
commanding position, has been undertaken that we 
may more clearly appreciate the intensity of their 
opposition to " Home Rule," and the sources ol 
their influence upon the present and future destiny 
of the Irish nation. 



CHAPTER I. 

AREA — DIVISION INTO PROVINCES — THE ANTRIM 
COAST — RATHLIN ISLAND— THE RIVER LAGAN — 
LOUGH NEAGH AND ITS LEGENDS. 

THE Province of Ulster has a total area of 
5,483,208 acres, 161,628 of which are covered t 
by the loughs, large rivers and tideways which 
diversify its surface. This area comprises about one- 
fourth of Ireland, and lies chiefly between the 54th 
and 55th parallels of latitude, and the 6th and 8th 
degrees of longitude. Its population is nearly 2,000,- 
000, or over one-third of the entire population of 
the island. 

The division of Ireland into provinces dates back 
to the ancient days of the five sons of Dela, who 
were descendants of noted chiefs of that period. 
They divided it into five provinces: Ulster, Lein- 
ster, Connaught, and the two Munsters, one of the 
five sons assuming to rule over each province. 

The division of Ireland into counties is of Anglo- 
Norman and English origin, Sir John Parrott, about 
Anno Domini, 1584, dividing Ulster into seven coun- 
ties as follows : Armagh, Monaghan, Tyrone, Col- 
eraine (now County Derry), Donegal, Fermanagh and 




CARRICK-A-UEOE BRIDGE. 



5 

Cavan, the other two Ulster counties, Antrim and 
Down, having been previously constituted. 

Each of these northern counties of Ulster pos-. 
sesses a charming variety of coast, mountain and 
lake scenery, which renders the entire district one 
of the most beautiful in the British Kingdom. The 
mountains and rugged coast of County Donegal are 
the first to greet the eye of the tourist by the Glas- 
gow steamers from New York. Thence, after pass- 
ing Malin Head, the most northerly promontory of 
Ireland, we pass along the coast of County Antrim, 
from the Giant's Causeway to the famous islet of 
Carrick-a-Rede, with the flying rope bridge nearly a 
hundred feet above the sea, which connects it with 
the main land. 




ANTRIM COAST NEAR LARNE. 



The next notable point is the promontory of Fair 
Head, wliich rises five hundred feet above the sea, 
and bears upon its broad plateau, Dhu Lough, or 
the Black Lake, and Loch-na-Cranagh, in the centre 
of which reposes a small island, which tradition tells 
us was built by the Druids, and used by them for 
the celebration of their religious ceremonies. 

About five miles from the shore off Fair Head, 
is Rathliii Island, which is visible from every point 
along the Antrim coast. It is three by five miles 
in extent. The almost perpendicular cliffs of lime- 
stone, of which the island is composed, are visible 
at a great distance when the sky is clear, and 
when the mists, which often prevail in this latitude, 
rest upon the sea, it is completely hidden from view. 
The rapidity with which the island alternatel}' 
appears and fades from the sight of those on the 
shore, doubtless suggested the legend which the fol- 
lowing old Irish verses beautifully describe: 



To Rathlin's Isle I chanced to sail 

When summer breezes softly blew, 
And there I heard so sweet a tale, 

That oft I wished it could be true. 
They said, at eve, when rude winds sleep, 

And hushed is every turbid swell, 
A mermaid rises from the deep 

And sweetly tunes her magic shell. 



And while she plays, rick, dell ami cave 

In dying falls the sound retains, 
As if some choral spirits gave 

Their aid to swell her witching strains. 
Then summoned by that dulcet note. 

Uprising to th' admiring view, 
A fairy island seems to float, 

With tints of many a gorgeous hue. 

And glittering fanes, and lofty towers. 

All on this fairy isle are seen ; 
And waving trees, and shady bowers, 

With more than mortal verdure green. 
And as it moves, the western sky 

Glows with a thousand varying rays ; 
And the calm sea, tinged with each dye, 

Seems like a golden flood of blaze. 

They also saj' if earth or stone 

From verdant Erin's hallowed land, 
Were on this magic island thrown, 

Forever fixed it then would stand. 
But, when for this, some little boat 

In silence ventures from the shore, 
The mermaid sinks — hushed is tho note. 

The fairv isle is seen no more. 



A few miles beyond Fair Head is Garron Tower, 
the seat of the Marquis of Londonderry, standing 
upon an enormous mass of chalk and basaltic rock, 
with the mountain of Knockare, rising to a height 
of 1 1 70 feet, for a background. This castle, said to 
have been built in imitation of Windsor Castle, was 
constructed from the native rock, during the great 
famine in Ireland, for the purpose of furnishing 
employment to the suffering people. It is a struc- 
ture almost unrivaled for picturesque beauty of 
location, as it commands an unusual view of the sea, 
and the distant shores of Scotland are clearly visi- 
ble from its terraces. 




GARRON 'lOWER. 



From Garron Tower the shore is varied and 
beautiful until we reach Larne, a small seaport town 
at the mouth of Belfast Lough, at the head of 
which, 24 miles distant, is the city of Belfast. 

The trip along the coast road from the Causeway 
to Larne is very interesting. The highway was 
constructed by the government, and for the most 
part closely follows the sea line, now passing around 
the foot of a towering cliff, again by a tunnel 
through a rocky headland, or over picturesque glens 
and mountain streams by viaducts of solid masonry. 

The eastern, or County Down coast, is of the same 
general character as that of County Antrim, and the 
route from Newcastle south to Carlingford Lough, 
and Warrenpoint at its head, with the Mourne 
mountains closely guarding the shore throughout 
the entire distance, is one of unusual interest, rival- 
ing the famous scenery of Wales, or the Highlands 
of Scotland. By these Mourne mountains on the 
east, the Donegal range on the western shore, and 
the Tyrone mountains extending through the cen- 
tral portion of Ulster in a southerly direction from 
Londonderry, the province is divided into two great 
valleys, in which are to be found all the natural 
advantages, which the most fertile countries in any 
part of the world can supply, for a great and pros- 
perous population. In the eastern portion, the river 
Lagan rises among the glens at the base of the 
range, forming a small stream which is not naviga- 



lO 



ble, but with its course leading through the highly 
cultivated farm lands of County Down, has been 
compared to the upper Thames, whose beaut}' has 
been so often described in song and story. The 
Lagan empties into the head of Belfast Lough. The 
Upper Bann, another small stream from the same 
source wends its way in a more westerly course, and 
empties into Lough Neagh, the largest fresh water 
lake in Ireland, having an area of 153 square miles. 
As the Lough rests here in its great beauty, it is hard 
to realize the fact that the Danish vessels once in- 
vaded its waters through the Lower Bann, which 
connects the lake with the sea at Coleraine on the 
north coast. To-day }'ou may watch its rippling sur- 
face for hours without seeing a single token of the 
bustle and life of the great city of Belfast, which 
lies just on the other side of Cave Hill. To me the 
solitude of Lough Neagh is almost pathetic when 
we recall its ancient history, its legends of romance 
and v^alor, and view its ivy-covered ruins telling of 
thrift and luxury long since departed. The story is 
still repeated of a battle between Irish and Scotch 
giants, and how one of the Irish combatants seized 
here a handful of earth, and hurled it at his antag- 
onist on the Scottish shore. It fell short of the 
mark, and landing in the sea, formed what is now 
known as the Isle of Man, which they say is exactly 
the size and shape of Lough Neagh. A peasant 
woman broueht her bucket to a flowinfT well for 



II 

water, and leaving it tlicre overlong, it overflowed 
until the great excavation was filled with water, as 
it has remained until the present day. Another 
legend places a town in its silvery depths, which 
Thomas Moore has immortalized in his ode entitled, 

"LET ERIN REMEMBER THE DAYS OF OLD." 
" Let Erin remember the days of old, 
Ere her faithless sons betrayed her ; 
When Malachi wore the collar of gold, 

Which he won from her proud invader ; 
When her kings, with standard of green unfurled, 

Led the Red-Branch knights to danger ; 
Ere the emerald gem of the western world 
Was set in the crown of a stranger. 

On Lough Neagh's bank, as the fisherman strays, 

When the clear cold eve's declining. 
He sees the round towers of other days 

In the wave beneath him shining ; 
Thus shall memory often, in dreams sublime 

Catch a glimpse of the days that are over ; 
Then, sighing, look through the wave of time 

For the long-faded glories they cover." 

Another legend attributes its origin to a volcanic 
eruption where the Lough " broke forth," as the 
historian expressed it. This is said to have occurred 
3,506 years before Christ. It is also said that Brisal 
O'Neill, king of Ulster in the year 161 of the Chris- 
tian era, was drowned in Lough Neagh, When the 
sad tidings were brought to his devoted wife Nora, 
she suddenly died of grief, and the tale of her faith- 
ful love has become a lasting consecration of the 
waters which are the grave of her royal husband. 



CHAPTER II. 

LOUGH ERNE — LEGEND OF THE LOUGH — COUNTY 
TYRONE— ARMAGH, THE GARDEN OF IRELAND— THE 
GEOLOGY OF ULSTER— GOLD— IRISH PEARLS — LEG- 
ENDARY HISTORY OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF 
ULSTER. 

LOUGH ERNE is another beautiful lake situated 
in County Fermanagh in the southwestern por- 
tion of Ulster. It is forty miles long and 
eight miles wide, and contains 3,700 acres. It is 
filled with islands, and what is known as Lower 
Lough Erne is in the midst of delightful scenery, 
which is often described as the Windermere of Ire- 
land. 

Here, as at Lough Neagh, legendar)' lore is richly 
interwoven with history of the efforts to subjugate 
the ancient race who peopled this district. 

It is said that where the Lough now lies, once 
stood a village, and near it was a well upon which 
a devout priest bestowed his benediction, and thus 
imparted healing properties to its waters. Vast 
numbers of people made pilgrimages thereto, and 
were cured. It was decreed by the priest, however, 
that if any one lifted the flat stone which covered 



13 

the well, so as to allow the light of day to shine 
into its depths, its blessed properties would be 
lost, and instead of being a spring of life and 
health, death would overwhelm those who came to 
seek its benefits. Poetic fancy has portrayed the 
legend in the following verses, giving the fate of one 
of the unfortunate pilgrims, and accounting also for 
the presence here of the Lough itself : 



" Where ripples now that silver lake, 
A busy hamlet once was seen ; 
Near yonder wild and tangled brake, 
The villajre spire adorned the green. 



When midnight's silence reigned around, 

And all was darksome, lone and drear, 
A hasty footstep press'd the ground. 

And to the holy well drew near, 
A fair, a young, and widow'd wife, 

The parent of a drooping boy. 
One draught she sought to save his life, 

She raised the stone with trembling joy ; 
When lo ! an infant's feeble cries 

The night wind wafted to her ear ; 
' O holy saint, my Gilbert dies ' 

She shrieked in agonizing fear. 



H 



O fatal haste, remembrance late, 

Beneath, around, the waters gushed ; 
Vainly she strove to fly from fate, 

Destruction yawned where'er she rushed, 
And while in hopeless love she wept, 

While yet the unconscious infant smiled, 
A ruthless wave, which o'er them swept, 

Entombed the parent and the child. 

No longer now the waters gushed. 

You might have heard the softest breath, 
All was around so calm, so hushed, 

Hush'd in the stilliness of death. 
Where late so active man had been. 

Fate had decreed his toil should cease ; 
O'er hamlet, spire, and village green. 

Erne's limpid waters rolled in peace. 



The softest gale that murmurs by. 

The purest wave that ripples here. 
That zephyr wafts the mother's sigh. 

That wave contains the parent's tear. 
Her mournful vigil must she keep, 

Still at the midnight hour's return 
And still her fatal fondness, weep 

While flow thy crystal waves. Lough Erne. 



i6 



From Lough Erne in the south, northward to 
Dcrry, and eastward to the western shore of Lougli 
Neagh, Hes the great agricultural county of Tyrone, 
which with its broad plateaus and valleys and num- 
erous rivers and streams and thickly shaded glens, 
is a district unsurpassed for delightful scenery as 
well as adaptability to all farming industries. The 
same is true of the country around the ancient cit}' 
of Armagh, which, from its high degree of culti\'a- 
tion, is often described as the garden of Ireland. 
In passing through these counties just before the 
harvest last summer, the great fields of ripening 
grain, the orchards and substantial abodes of the 
prosperous farmers, and the evidence of thrift and 
prosperity on every hand, reminded us of the rich 
valleys of the Genesee and the Mohawk in our own 
Empire State. 

The geological characters of Ulster, as well as the 
other provinces of Ireland, are varied and interest- 
ing. The great beds of shale at Bundoran on Done- 
gal Bay at the mouth of the ri\er Erne are filled 
with fossil remains, mostly zoophytes. From this 
sea-washed bed of shale, high and rugged cliffs of 
gneiss are projected, and interspersed here and there 
with mica, slate, and carboniferous limestone, which 
form the greater part of the coast from Donegal to 
Warrenpoint. 

On the plains are found great deposits of drift 
with peat moss and fresh water marl, and anthracite 



17 

coal is found in some portions, althout^h perhaps not in 
sufficient quantities for mining, but it is believed that 
the deposits of soft coal are enormous. Most of the 
coal used in Ireland is still brought from the Eng- 
lish mines, but the peat which is so generally dis- 
tributed is still commonly used for fuel in the rural 
districts. I was surprised to learn that it is not a 
cheap fuel, a good quality costing the consumer 
from 4 to 8 shillings ($i to $2) per cart load, de- 
livered at the farm house. This peat only lacks the 
force of great rock pressure to render it coal instead 
of the quickly consumed and smoke evolving 
combustible which it is. Gold has been found in 
County Antrim, and some other portions of Ulster, 
but not as yet in pajnng quantities. At Omagh in 
Tyrone numbers of men thronged the station plat- 
form with collections of native pearls, which seemed 
to be of a fair quality. Iron ore is also found 
in Tyrone, and with all the other mineral wealth of 
Ireland, it seems incredible that capital has so long 
neglected the development of these industries, es- 
pecially coal and iron, which would be such an 
incalculable addition to the wealth and prosperity 
of the people. With the opening up of the coal 
beds, which are known to be extensive, the develop- 
ment of all the other mining industries would flour- 
ish. The shipping of coal for fuel from England to 
Belfast with Lough Neagh almost washing the Tyrone 
coal beds, seems as reprehensible as the proverbial 



19 

carrying of coals to Newcastle, or shipping wheat 
from Chicago to Minneapolis. If British capital con- 
tinues to neglect the rich mineral deposits of Ulster, 
it will be surprising if Yankee enterprise and capital 
do not some day improve the opportunity. 

With all the charming variety of lake, river and 
woodland we have described, the north of Ireland 
naturally attracted many adventurers from con- 
tinental countries. The legendary history of the 
early ages, narrate that a band of African pirates 
called Formorians, landed upon Tory Island, there 
built a castle from whence invasions were made 
against the Parthalonians, who came from Greece 
A. M. 2,520, and took up their abode on the little 
island of Inish-Samer in the river Erne near Bally- 
shannon. The descendants of this colony after 300 
years, were nearly all destroyed by a plague, and 
were succeeded A. M. 2,850 by the Nemedians who 
made war upon the pirates of the north, destroyed 
the castle upon Tory Island, but unmindful of the 
rising tide, the remnant of their army was over- 
whelmed in the sea. The next colonization was 
by the Firbolgs, A. M. 3,266, who also came from 
Greece, and then were followed A. M. 3,303 by the 
Dedannans, also Greeks, and noted for their skill in 
magic. They burned their ships as soon as they 
had landed, enshrouded themselves in a magic mist, 
and thus unobserved, finally met, and after a four 
days' battle, wrested Ireland from the Firbolgs, and 



20 



became the masters of the island. These Dedan- 
nans in subsequent ages were deified and became 
fairies, whom the ancient Irish worshipped. The 
Milesians succeeded them A. M. 3,500 after a prolonged 
sojourn in various countries, having, it is said, been in 
Egypt when Pharaoh's hosts were drowned in the 
Red Sea. They finally sailed from Spain to Ire- 
land in thirty ships. These were at first commanded 
by eight brothers, all of whom, with the exception 
of Eber-Finn and Eremon, perished before the long 
pilgrimage was finished, in a furious tempest raised 
by the magicians or Dedannans, whom they defeated 
in battle, however, and a nephew of the brothers, 
Eber by name, was given Ulster as his portion of 
the realm. From this time onward there was, ac- 
cording to tradition, constant warfare between Eber, 
king of Ulster, and the chiefs of the other provinces, 
until all the Pagan Kings of Ireland either fell 
in battle, or at the hands of the assassin. Nearl}- 
three hundred years before the Christian Era, Macha 
then king of Ulster, built a ro)'al palace near Armagh, 
which for six centuries continued to be the residence 
of the Ulster kings, and to-day its ruins, which tiic 
storms of fifteen centuries have not altogether swept 
away, are still pointed out to the traveler. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE SIEGE OF DERRY— THE BATTLE OF ENNISKILLEN— 
CARRICKFERGUS CASTLE — ST. PATRICK'S BIRTH- 
PLACE—EARLY EDUCATION— HIS MISSION TO IRE- 
LAND—BURIAL PLACE AT DOWNPATRICK. 

ALTPIOUGH the histcny of these Ulster peo- 
ple, and of all Ireland, is one of absorbinf^ in- 
terest, and renders the entire island a most 
fascinating study for the antiquarian, it is rather to 
the events which more directly bear upon modern 
Ulster that we invite attention. The established 
principle of social evolution that the stronger race, tribe, 
or clan, will finally gain .supremacy, has been demon- 
strated in the history of Ulster down to the present 
day. No benighted people have ever suffered as con- 
tinuous and fierce assaults from invaders as the in- 
habitants of Ireland, from the time of the first land- 
ing of the Danes, A. D. 795, through the bloody 
period of the Anglo-Norman invasion, and all the 
dreary years of alternating hope and despair down 
to the time of Henry VIII., who was the first Eng- 
lish monarch to assume the title of King of Ireland. 
It is a noted fact that the fiercest battles were 
those for religious supremacy, and some of these 



were so important in their influence upon the char- 
acter and fortunes of modern Ulster as to demand 
special mention, notably the seige of Derry and the 
battle of Enniskilleii. The siege of Londonderry was 
commenced April iSth, 1689. The city had been 
in the hands of the Protestants from the time of 
Cromwell (1649). It was built upon the west shore 
of Lough Foyle, and strongly fortified, which ren- 
dered its subjugation difficult. The task of its cap- 
ture was intrusted to Lieutenant-General Richard 
Hamilton by Tirconnell, who was then Lord Lieuten- 
ant of L'eland, and as such, desirous of securing the 
country to James II., who was a Roman Catholic. 
The governor of Derr}-, at the commencement of the 
siege, was Colonel Lund\-, who wished to surrender 
to Hamilton, but the gates were closed by the peo- 
ple themselves, and so great was the unpopularity of 
the governor, that he at last stealthily escaped o\-er 
the wall at night, and from that moment the zealous 
inhabitants took charge of the defence. Their most 
efficient leader was the Re\'. Cieorge Walker, a 
Protestant clerg}'man, who so inspired the people to 
resistance that throughout the entire siege of 105 
days, in the midst of daily fighting, resultirig in great 
loss of life — with supplies so nearly exhausted that 
horses, dogs, grease and garbage of every description 
were the only articles of food obtainable, no thought 
of surrender seems to have been entertainetl by this 
sturdy hero of the church. E\en the women often 



stood upon the ramparts handing ammunition to the 
citizen soldiers, and hurhig all sorts of missiles down 
upon the heads of the besiegers. Finally, when their 
supply of ammunition had been exhausted, this 
hungry, ragged and yet devoted band of defenders of 
their faith still refused to open the gates, and would 
have perished had not relief come from Major-General 
Kirke, who, with a fleet of thirty ships, had remained 
in the lough below for forty-six days trying to summon 
up sufficient courage to attempt their rescue. 

It is worthy of special mention that Kirke has in 
a measure escaped the obloquy which his course 
merited. But history has rendered the fame of Rev. 
George Walker immortal. Upon the walls of Derry, 
which are still preserved, near the very spot where 
the anxious lookouts watched and waited, praying 
for Kirke to move in their behalf, a grateful people 
has erected an enduring column to commemorate the 
heroism of Walker, and there it will remain as long as 
the love of freedom of religious worship, and rever- 
ence for the principles of justice and humanity shall 
continue to characterize the loyal people of Ulster. 
On the same day that Derry won its victory, the 
garrison at Enniskillcn in County Fermanagh, which 
had been equally determined in its resistance to the 
soldiers of King James, although fortunately not 
compelled to endure the terrible experiences of their 
fellow Christians in the north, marched grandly forth 
to meet an approaching army, engaged it in battL^ 



=4 



at Newtown Butler, and routed tlie enemy, thus 
completely restoring Ulster to William Prince of 
Orange, who became King of England when James 
II. abandoned the throne and fled to F" ranee. 

Another point worthy of mention is Carrickfergus 
Castle on the northern shore of Belfast Loueh. 




CAKI<ICKlKK(;i'.S CASII.E. 



The castle still remains, and is one of the most 
complete specimens of Anglo-Norman fortresses in 
the United Kingdom. Its location gave it a com- 
manding position, and being surrounded by water 
upon three sides it was almost impregnable. Here 



■^5 

in 131 5 a band of English took refuge from the army 
of Robert Bruce, and for months gallantly defended 
the castle against the Scots, being finally compelled, 
by starvation, to surrender. In the rebellion of 1641 
it was the refuge of many Catholics, who were pur- 
sued with the utmost cruelty in the effort to more 
firmly establish Protestanism in the Province. A 
siege of eight days duration was required to capture 
the castle by an army of King William 15,000 strong, 
and over a century later, it was again captured and 
occupied for a few dH}'s by a band of French sol- 
diers under Thurot, who came to the coast for the 
purpose of invading Ireland, but re-embarked, and 
were intercepted off the Isle of Man by three English 
ships commanded by Captain Elliott, and their vessels 
seized, Thurot himself being killed in the engage- 
ment. 

Without referring at length to the almost endless 
military engagements which took place in every part 
of Ulster, enough has been narrated to show the 
intensity of the strife for supremacy between the 
adherents of the Protestant and Catholic churches 
in the centuries following the introduction of Chris- 
tianity into Ireland. It is not strange that with 
such a history the Irish, as a race, should be some- 
what intolerant of restraint and jealous to an unusual 
degree of their personal rights, as well as quick to 
defend their principles by their blood, if necessary. 
These traits are a heritage from the O'Neill's, the 



26 



O'Donnells, the McMahons, the Fitzgeralds and 
Fitzmaurices of the early days. 

In connection with the strife for rehgious suprem- 
acy in Ireland, we should not omit some reference 
to St. Patrick, to whom belongs the credit of the 
introduction of Christianity into the country. No 
doubt there were Christians in Ireland before the 
time of St. Patrick, but in the entire annals of mission- 
ary labors in pagan lands there is no more wonder- 
ful story of heroic and successful religious conquest 
than the history of his mission to the land of his 
adoption. While there is some obscurity surround- 
ing his early history, it is generally conceded that 
he was a native of Scotland, born near Dumbarton 
about A. 1). 387, of Christian parentage. He is said 
to have been captured during one of the incursions 
of the Scots, (as the Irish were then called), into 
Scotland, carried back to the Slemish Mountain in 
County Antrim, where he remained for some years 
as a slave in the service of a farmer. During this 
period he learned the Irish language, and became a 
most fervent and devoted Christian. Finally, mak- 
ing his escape to his native country, he was educated 
in a monastic school, then found his way to Rome, 
and was granted the authority by Pope Celestine, to 
attempt the conversion of the Irish nation. He first 
landed in the south, but was promptly expelled, and 
finally began his work at Lecale in County Down, 
where his first converts were baptized. He seems 



27 

to have been, not only a man of conspicuous piety, 
but also of wonderful boldness, and possessed of a 
personal magnetism which was almost irresistible. 
Many times men, who had been commissioned to 
prevent him from prosecuting his mission, returned 
as converts to the new doctrine which he preached, 
and thus from place to place he traveled, founding 
churches which he left in charge of his disciples, 
until a greater part of the country had been won 
to the new faith. It is said that at a great meet- 
ing in Connaught, seven princes and twelve thou- 
sand people were converted and baptized. 



29 

St. Patrick founded the See of Armagh about 
A. D. 455. After a long Hfe devoted to his mission, 
he died in County Down at the same spot where 
his first converts were baptized, and amid the 
lamentations of thousands of his loving disciples 
he was laid to rest at Downpatrick. 

With such an origin, and such a career as his,, 
which a thousand years have in no degree obscured,, 
it is easy to understand the enthusiasm with which 
Catholics continue to venerate and almost worship 
the name of St. Patrick. 



CHAPTER IV. 

SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED BY ST, PATRICK— THE GREAT 
SCHOOL AT BANGOR— THE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 
OF THE PRESENT DAY— ANCIENT LITERATURE— THE 
BOOK OF KELLS AND THE BOOK OF ARMAGH— CEL- 
TIC CROSSES— ROUND TOWERS— MUSIC— THE ORIGIN 
OF THE HARP. 

THE establishment of schools followed imme- 
diately upon the founding of the church, and 
great numbers of students attended them. 
One school at Bangor, in County Down, is said to 
have had 3,000 students, who were taught every 
branch of learning then known. In the centuries 
between the death of St. Patrick and the Danish 
invasion, these great monastic schools flourished 
unmolested, and Ireland became the intellectual 
leader of England and the continent of Europe. 
Then began the warfare which we have already 
mentioned, when the monasteries were destroyed 
and Ireland lost her intellectual supremacy. In the 
Ulster of to-day, however, we find great intellectual 
activity. There is a system of national primary 
schools of a fair grade, in which every child may 
obtain what we would call a common school 
education. These schools are practically free, and 



31 

it is reasonable to expect that the system will in 
time be perfected. The facilities for the education 
of the middle and upper classes are of a high grade 
and admirably sustained. In the city of Belfast 
there is an Academy founded in 1796; The Model 
School, Queen's College, with a library of 30,000 
volumes, a museum and observatory ; the Pres- 
byterian College, founded in 1853; the Methodist 
College, with a theological department, and Campbell 
College, which was opened in 1892. Magee Pres- 
byterian College is located at Londonderry. There 
is an observatory at Armagh instituted in 1791, 
which was endowed by Robinson, then Primate of 
Ireland. With such excellent educational facilities 
it is evident that the intellectual future of Ulster 
will be one of rapid and uninterrupted progress 
toward that commanding position in science, art 
and literature which once characterized the people 
of Ireland. There are numerous parochial schools 
connected with the Catholic parishes, but it is 
worthy of mention that all the higher institutions 
of learning are under the management of the dif- 
ferent Protestant denominations. Unless the leaders 
of the Catholic church are willing to lose their 
remaining influence in Ulster, they must assume the 
same liberal attitude regarding education which 
other churches have done, for the day is past when 
ignorance or superstition can anywhere successfully 
oppose the great and irresistible forces of intel- 



32 

lectual development which college training insures. 

It is impossible to separate the history of the 
literature of Ireland and that of the Province of 
Ulster. The schools which flourished after the death 
of St. Patrick, being connected with monasteries, as 
has been already stated, the literary productions 
handed down to us were chiefly the work of the 
teachers in those institutions. There are many 
manuscript volumes now preserved in Trinity Col- 
lege, Dublin, in the Royal Irish Academy, in the 
National Museum, Dublin, in the British Museum 
and at Oxford. Perhaps the most famous of them 
all are the "Book of Kells " and the "Book of 
Armagh," both of which are in Trinity College. 
They are beautifully written, the former being a 
Latin Copy in x-cllum of the four Gospels, and the 
latter in Latin also, with considerable old Irish 
interspersed, also contains the four Gospels and the 
life of St. Patrick, and a brief account in Latin 
by himself of his mission in Ireland. The Book of 
Armagh was completed A. D. 807. 

Pen-work, of which these two books are beautiful 
specimens, was so perfect among the professional 
scribes of ancient Ireland as to deserve a place among 
the fine arts. Exquisite taste was displayed in design 
as well as in coloring, which is well preserved in 
these famous books even after the lapse of so many 
centuries. Metal work was brought to a high state 
of perfection in bronze, gold, silver and enamel, in- 



33 



teresting specimens of which are preserved in the 
National Museum in Dublin. 




CELTIC CROSS AND ROUND TOWER, DEVENISH ISLAND. 

The most noteworthy specimens of sculpture which 
remain are the Celtic crosses, forty-five of which are 
to be seen in various parts of Ireland. One of the 
most perfect of these is on Devenish Island in Lough 
Erne, and is of exquisite design and workmanship. 
Near the cross, stands the finest specimen of the 
round towers to be found in Ulster. You are doubt- 
less aware of the many speculations regarding the 
origin of these round towers. They are known to be 



34 



of great antiquity, but it is now generally believed 
that they are of Christian origin. F"rom their prox- 
imity to the ruins of old monasteries, it is probable 
that they were connected with them. They are from 
13 to 20 feet in circumference at the base, from 60 to 
150 feet high, with a single small doorway, and the 
first story is about 10 feet from the ground. Several 
stories above are each lighted by a single small win- 
dow, so that they were well planned as places of 
refuge during the frequent attacks made upon the 
monasteries. Their strength as a defense has been 
attested by their survival of all the buildings of which 
they formed a part, and even though Dr. George 
Petrie and others have swept away the romance 
which imagination had woven about these monuments 
of antiquity, they will still continue to be of great 
interest to the student and antiquarian. Even if they 
were not built by the Druids, and the scenes of their 
weird ceremonies, would not the story of the escape 
of the persecuted monks to these havens of security, 
the futile assaults of the enemy, the probable suffer- 
ing from hunger, thirst and fear, the petitions ad- 
dressed to the Deity for safety, and the miraculous 
deliverance finally vouchsafed to them, be as thrilling 
as any romance the imagination could conceive or 
the pen portray ? 

The ancient Irish were lovers of music, and during 
the long period of their intellectual supremacy, instruc- 
tors in music were often called from Ireland to Eng- 



35 

land and continental countries. Many of the ballads 
which have been preserved are very beautiful, but 
nearly all tinged with a strain of sadness, as all the 
songs of a people must be when war, famine and pes- 
tilence are the constant concomitants of national evo- 
lution. The harp was the favorite musical instru- 
ment, and as we read of the great skill of the harpists, 
and the exquisite harmonies which they evoked, we 
are reminded of Thomas Moore's lines as to its origin, 
with which you are doubtless familiar. 

THE ORIGIN OF THE HARP. 
" 'Tis believed that the Harp which I wake now for thee, 
Was a siren of old, who sang under the sea ; 
And who often, at eve, through the bright waters roved, 
To meet on the green shore a youth that she loved. 
But she loved him in vain, for he left her to weep, 
And in tears, all the night, her gold tresses to steep, 
Till Heaven looked with pity on true love so warm. 
And changed to the soft Harp the sea-maiden's form. 
Still her bosom rose fair, still her cheeks smiled the same. 
While her sea beauties gracefully formed the light frame ; 
And her hair, as, let loose, o'er her white arm it fell, 
Was changed to bright chords uttering melody's spell. 
Hence it came that this soft Harp so long hath been known 
To mingle love's language with sorrow's sad tone ; 
Till thou didst divide them and teach the fond lay 
To speak love when I'm near thee and grief when away." 

To-day the harp and the minstrel have departed 
from Ireland like the Celtic language, the genius of 
which imparted to many of the old ballads the terse- 
ness of style for which they are remarkable. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ULSTER PEOPLE OF THE PRESENT DAY— RELIG- 
IOUS SECTS— THE OLD DUBLIN PARLIAMENTS— BENE- 
FITS FROM THE UNION WITH GREAT BRITAIN — 
COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT— FORMER 
OPPRESSION OF IRISH INDUSTRIES — THE LAND 
QUESTION. 

IX all that has been said of the physical charac- 
ters of Ulster, of the primeval races, the in- 
vasions and contentions that followed, the 
ancient literature, art and song, we may find an in- 
dex of the character of the "men of Ulster" as 
they are to-da}', of their present achievements, and 
the rich promises for the future. The composite 
race possesses many advantages, as ev^ery stutlent of 
social evolution has noted. This is well marked in 
the people of Ulster, where a mingling of the old 
Celtic blood with that which came through the 
Danish and the Anglo-Norman invasions, has left 
its impress, and we find a race o{ sturdy phj'sique 
far excelling in enterprise the inhabitants of the 
other provinces, which received comparatively few 
English and Scotch settlers. As they fought 



37 

for the establishment of their religion in Ulster, so 
they have been compelled to defend it, and this de- 
votion to the church is a marked characteristic, 
Avhether that church be the Irish church (disestab- 
lished since 1871) or the Presbyterian, Methodist or 
Roman Catholic. About 60 per cent, of the popu- 
lation are Protestants of \arious creeds, one-half of 
whom are Presbyterians, and one-third Episcopal- 
ians. As these Protestants were loyal to William 
of Orange in the early days, so have they been 
loyal to the government at Westminster all through 
the interminable agitation for home rule in Ireland, 
as the entire civilized wcirld knows, for they have not 
hesitated to express their views on this great ques- 
tion with as much freedom as Daniel O'Connell ever 
advocated religious liberty for his own people. 

It may be proper, before proceeding, to briefly re- 
fer to some phases of the effort to secure an Irish 
Parliament. You may remember that the present 
union of the government of the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland went into effect Janu- 
ary 1st, 1 80 1, when William Pitt was Prime Min- 
ister. Preceding that period there had been a 
Dublin parliament, and various other so-called parlia- 
ments, which had never in the least degree suc- 
ceeded in administering the functions of a general 
government in a way to secure the peace and pros- 
perity of the entire people. It cannot be denied 
that English authority had been often rendered 



38 

odious by its injustice and inefficiency, but Ireland 
was a turbulent territory, and had not yet reached 
the point when aiij authority would have been uni- 
versally respected, which was some possible justifica- 
tion for the cruel treatment often accorded to the 
Irish. O'Connell and Grattan succeeded in securing 
such a modification of the terms of the union as to 
grant a degree of religious liberty to all denomina- 
tions, and as we follow the actual results of legis- 
lation, we find there has been steady progress toward 
equality of privilege in the three Kingdoms. Ex- 
tensive improvements have been made by the gov- 
ernment, harbors have been improved, great high- 
ways constructed, railroads built — in fact, more done 
for Ireland than for Scotland, or almost any portion 
of England itself. It is a surprise to the visitor to 
see piers at insignificant seaports like Ardglass, in 
County Down, for example, that many of our larg- 
est cities might almost covet. There is no such sub- 
stantial pier in the United States as the one at 
Kingstown, the seaport of Dublin. Notwithstanding 
all these things, every portion of Ireland, except 
Ulster, has continued to pray for itself as a miser- 
able and distracted country, while with all its natural 
advantages and a modicum of nineteenth century 
energy and progress, it could be made one of the 
gardens of the world. I am free to confess that 
upon my first visit to Ireland thirteen years ago. 
Home Rule seemed to be the ideal solution of the 



39 

question of the government of that island, for you 
know an American is naturally a home ruler, or 
thinks he is. Upon closer observation, however, it 
became evident that if Ulster could build up a great 
city like Belfast, establish schools and colleges^ 
build churches, extend her commerce, and her peo- 
ple dwell in contentment and peace, under the same 
laws which governed the other provinces, they also 
could thrive under the government at Westminster, 
if they made the same effort to help themselves, 
which every prosperous community is obliged to 
make, or fail in the race. 

The principal causes of complaint against the 
English government have been the following : 

(i) The discrimination in favor of the Church of 
England, and the efforts to proscribe Catholics and 
Dissenters from all the privileges enjoyed by other 
subjects of the crown. This, as has been already 
shown, has been gradually remedied from the first 
victory of O'Connell to the present time, when all 
disabilities are removed and freedom of worship is 
as secure in Ulster, if not in other provinces, as it 
is in New York. 

The loyalists of Ulster have a firm belief (which 
seems to me unwarranted) that with the establishment 
of a Dublin parliament, they being so largely in the 
minority, would be subjected to a religious persecu- 
tion against which there would be no means of re- 
lief; that the Catholic population in full control^ 



40 

would deprive the minority of the same rights and 
privileges which they have demanded for themselves, 
and in a measure re-enact the barbaric coercion 
of the days of Cromwell. A complete reply to all 
this distrust, is the mere statement that we are at 
the end of the nineteenth century instead of its 
beginning, that Ireland is not Armenia, and that the 
destruction of churches, monasteries and convents 
will never again be recorded in the annals of the 
United Kingdom. The spirit of liberty has so far 
permeated the foremost nations of the civilized world 
that no man's conscience can be enchained, or his 
religious convictions successfull}' attacked by State 
authority. 

The peoj)le of Ulster arc right and will be sus- 
tained in their position of religious independence. 
They are mistaken in believing that their neighbors 
in the south would abuse that same freedom if the 
opportunity were afforded by an Irish parliament. 

(2) It is considered an offence that the Lord 
Lieutenant is usually an Englishman. This objection 
is merely a sentiment, and it never seems to ha\'e 
occurred to the party of agitators in Ireland that so 
long as an active hostility to the government is 
openly advocated, there is no possibility of the ad- 
ministration of the government being entrusted to a 
man of their own choice. English Prime Ministers 
have made some blunders, and yet they have never 
been guilty of such sublime idiocy as tlie appoint- 



41 

ment of an open enemy to a position of exalted 
responsibility. 

(3) It is claimed that England, in her legislation, 
has discriminated against the industrial interests of 
Ireland. A brief note from history reveals the fact 
that in 1633 the woolen trade was practically de- 
stroyed by Lord Wentworth, then viceroy to Ire- 
land, because it was believed to interfere with the 
English manufacturers. As a partial compensation, 
however, he introduced the cultivation of flax, and 
encouraged the manufacture of linen, which has been 
the chief source of the great prosperity of modern 
Ulster. In 1660 the so-called English Navigation Act 
became a law, which prohibited all export from Ire- 
land to the colonies, even the shipping of cattle to 
England. After thirty-eight years, the raising of 
sheep being favored by the soil and climate of Ire- 
land, the manufacture of woolen goods had again 
revived to some degree, smugglers taking the goods 
to France and other foreign markets, when by the 
sanction of King William, an export tax of four 
shillings a pound was levied upon fine woolens and 
2 shillings a pound upon frieze and flannel. Export 
was allowed to only four or five ports on the west 
coast of England, and from only six Irish ports. 
This finally completed the destruction of the woolen 
industry and even to this day it has never been re- 
established. From this period until 1779, when these 
outrageous restrictions were removed, nearly every 



42 

manufacture, including beer, malt, hats, cotton, silk, 
gunpowder, iron and ironware, was hampered by- 
similar fatal restrictions. Before legislative relief was 
obtained, distress, famine and emigration had so 
desolated Ireland that recovery was impossible. 
Ulster only escaped the same desolation because 
the linen industry was not thought to interfere with 
the interests of the English manufacturers. 

Some strange remnants of this industrial oppres- 
sion still survive. A mountain stream capable of sup- 
plying mill power, was pointed out to me a few years 
ago in County Down, on the banks of which the owner 
of the land proposed to erect a mill. He was 
obliged to ask for a permit from the government at 
London. Permission was refused and the project 
consequently abandoned. Many Ulster farmers to- 
day complain bitterly of the government for allow- 
ing the importation of American beef and cattle into 
the United Kingdom free of duty, which they claim 
has subjected them to a ruinous competition and is 
destroying that industry. The English farmers join in 
this complaint, however, and it is not for us to dis- 
cuss any phase of the free trade problem in this paper. 
It is evident that the Irish have suffered incompar- 
able injustice in these commercial and industrial re- 
lations, from the English parliament, and it is equally 
true that when just dealing was finally accorded, the 
relief came too late to preserve even a remnant of 



43 

the old prosperity, and the present development of 
the island is like that of a new colony. 

(4) The dealing with the land question has never 
been satisfactory to the Irish tenantry. The status 
of this question in both Ireland and Great Britain 
could never prove acceptable to us in America. We 
cannot imagine the building of the great commercial 
houses in our cities, for example, upon ground leased 
from the owner at an annual rental, with the possi- 
bility of some future forfeiture of all the improve- 
ments to an obdurate landlord. When this system 
is brought down to the holdings of the small farmers, 
where a failure of the potato crop or the death of a 
cow or horse, may result in the tenants eviction for non- 
payment of rent, it very soon becomes an almost intol- 
erable condition of affairs. This can be more read- 
ily appreciated when we consider that in Ulster, the 
most prosperous of all the provinces, there are about 
three thousand farms, so called, less than ten acres 
in extent, 4,500 of over ten acres and under fifty, 
and 1,500 between fifty and under one hundred 
acres. Then we find the great land owners, who 
are mostly non-residents, with estates containing from 
10,000 to 122,000 acres. Their estates being in the 
hands of an agent, it is reasonable to suppose that 
real oppression may often be the lot of the unfor- 
tunate tenants. 

Riots and assassination of agents cannot improve 
this state of things, neither can wholesale eviction, 



44 

or in fact any remedy which has yet been proposed. 

I freely confess to seeing little but a huge and 
almost inextricable maze of difificullies surrounding 
the entire land question. The best statesmen of 
Great Britain have studied and are still striving, 
honestly and consistently, to solve the problem. Can 
an Irish parliament succeed any better ? There is 
no reason to believe it could do as well, judging from 
the history of the Land League and other organiza- 
tions which have been the outgrowth of this protracted 
controversy. 

The system, being an outgrowth of ages cannot be 
immediately changed, but only by long, painstaking 
and patient effort on the part of all concerned. 
The Home Rule agitation of late years has appar- 
ently complicated matters, by fostering hopes in the 
poor tenants which cannot be realized in this gen- 
eration at least. The result seems to have been 
to encourage idleness, an increased disregard of vested 
rights, and a growing discontent without any means 
of relief. 



CHAPTER VI. 

ULSTER HAS INDICATED THE ONLY SOLUTION OF 
THE IRISH QUESTION— THE IMPERIAL CITY OF 
BELFAST— THE ENTERPRISE AND THRIFT OF HER 
PEOPLE— THE UNIONIST'S ATTITUDE TOWARD MR. 
GLADSTONE. 

THE people of Ulster alone have perhaps uncon- 
sciously, demonstrated the only practical solu- 
tion of the Irish question. They have recog- 
nized the fact that to be an integral part of a great 
empire, which in many respects is the best govern- 
ment in the world to-day, not even excepting our 
own republic, is an inestimable advantage to all the 
material interests of Ireland. Ireland free and inde- 
pendent would mean Ireland poor, defenseless against 
invasion, and zuithoiit national alliances or affiliations. 
In the disruption of the three kingdoms would dis- 
appear the only source of stability which has char- 
acterized Irish institutions during the century now 
closing. The men of Ulster have realized that from 
a vigorous central power must come the correction 
of the anomalies and perhaps unjust social and polit- 
ical systems which still remain, and, by their steadfast 
loyalty to the Queen's government, have merited 
and are besfinnincr to receive the rich rewards which 



46 

such allegiance deserves. Those rewards are appar- 
ent to the most casual observer. In every part of 
the province new lines of railway are opening up 
the great natural resources of the country, new vil- 
lages are being developed, industries revived, and an 
activity unknown to other portions of Ireland is noted 
in every direction. Commerce is developing by sea 
as well as by land, and even the farmers are becom- 
ing animated with the new spirit of progress and 
are becoming better provided with the necessaries 
and even the luxuries of life. The wonderful nat- 
ural beauties of the district are attracting tourists, 
who find in the bracing climate and historic associ- 
ations a new delight, and this will ultimately aid 
in attracting the capital which is still greatly needed. 
The highest development of the new order is found 
in the imperial city of Belfast. Situated as it is, 
where the river Lagan empties into Belfast Lough, 
which by governmental assistance has been made a 
harbor of unsurpassed excellence, it has attracted the 
great shipbuilding interests, the enormous linen trade 
of the world and the most energetic and sturdy 
population to be found in any city of its size in 
Europe. It has lately become a larger city than 
Dublin and is becoming a formidable rival of Liver- 
pool and Glasgow. There are streets in Belfast which 
would do credit to the metropolis of Great Britain, 
or the finest city of the continent. It is supplying 
employment to vast numbers of people from the 



49 

rural districts, thus favoring consolidation of the 
small farms into more profitable form. A single fac- 
tory, the York Street Spinning Mill, employs nearly 
4,000 hands. All the educational institutions, churches, 
public charities, commercial and financial establish- 
ments are well sustained. The houses of the people 
are the abodes of contentment and thrift, and there 
is a growing community of interest in this capital 
of Ulster, which gives great promise for the future. 

The suburban districts have kept pace with the 
city and are filled with the palatial residences of the 
wealthy and refined who are the dominant element 
in all that tends to the highest development in the 
intellectual and social progress of the municipality. 
All this, as I have said before, has been accomplished 
under the same political policy which has governed 
the other provinces of Ireland, and with the same 
natural resources and advantages. Is it strange that 
Ulster is contented with the present order of things, 
and is ready to fight for it, if necessary? 

If I were asked to name the causes which have 
distinguished Ulster from the other three provinces 
I would reply, (i) industry, (2) intelligence, (3) en- 
terprise and a patriotism which is untainted by polit- 
ical intrigue. These elemental forces have all com- 
bined to place Belfast and the entire north of Ire- 
land in a commanding position, just as the same 
forces were responsible for the influence of the early 
New England colonies, which has extended to the 



5^ 

very boundaries of this western continent, and has 
given our American people all that is noblest and 
best in our national life. In the same way is the 
spirit of Ulster destined to extend far beyond its 
borders until all Ireland shall become a garden of 
industry, a vigorous and progressive state in which 
all the social and political maladies of this genera- 
tion will finally be overcome and forgotten. Such 
progress as we find in Ulster is infectious, all pervading 
and irresistible, while continuous political agitation, 
whatever may be its ultimate object, is demoralizing, 
and the energy thus exerted, if employed in the de- 
velopment of the industrial interests of the country, 
would yield a degree of contentment to the people 
which no amount of legislation, however good, could 
ever produce. 

The history of modern Ulster would not be com- 
plete without some reference to the Right Honor- 
able Wm. E. Gladstone, who has occupied so con- 
spicuous a position in English and Irish politics dur- 
ing the past generation. It was my privilege to see 
hin\ in 1882 when he had reached the acme of his 
great career, and was the honored leader of the 
House of Commons, ably seconded by that grand 
champion of freedom and friend of America, the 
Honorable John Bright. No period in English par- 
liamentary history since the days of Pitt, was more 
conspicuous for able leadership and eloquent advo- 
cacy of the claims of the common people. But 




MR. GLADSTONE. 



53 

the dis-establishment of the church of Ireland had 
already caused some degree of distrust of the great 
prime minister, in the minds of the protestants of 
Ulster. Then came the gradual tendency toward 
the movement for an independent government for 
Ireland, ending in a complete surrender to Parnell 
and his followers, which resulted, as you remember, 
in the return of the conservatives to full govern- 
mental control. No argument can ever convince 
the Unionists of Ulster that Mr. Gladstone was in- 
fluenced by worthy and patriotic impulses during 
this alliance. Their denunciation of his course was, 
and continues to be, characterized by intense bitter- 
ness, traitor and miscreant sufficing simply because 
no more emphatic epithets could be found to apply 
to him. They say it was a last despairing efTort to 
save his government by an unholy alliance, which 
he knew to be contrary to the best interests of the 
country. I cannot sympathize with this opinion. If 
he adopted a policy which ended in defeat, he was 
honest in his convictions, even though he may have 
been mistaken, and now in his peaceful retirement 
he retains a measure of confidence, esteem and ad- 
miration which few statesmen have enjoyed in any 
age or country. If I mistake not, when the strifes 
and hostilities of this conflict are forgotten, the name 
of the grand old man of Hawarden Castle will be 
enrolled, without a dissenting voice, among the great- 
est and best of those who have devoted their lives 
to the service of their country. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FROM BELFAST TO BANGOR— THE IRISH JAUNT- 
ING CAR -HELEN'S TOWER— THE EASTERN COAST 
—ACROSS COUNTRY TO BELLEEK AND BALLY- 
SHANNON— OUR ULSTER FRIENDS— "ERIN OH 

ERIN." 

WE have thus briefly referred to the ancient 
and niotlern Province of Ulster, and the 
position which her physical, intellectual and 
moral characteristics have secured, and her hopes for 
the future. Before leaving this historic country the 
visitor ma)' find many points of interest besides those 
already mentioned. 

On a fine summer morning, if we take a steamer 
down Belfast Lough to Bangor, passing the great 
ship yards, where many of the famous Atlantic liners 
have been built, with the green hills of County Down 
on the one hand, and the lofty range, of which Cave 
Hill is the most conspicuous feature, on the other, 
the railways on either shore, the delightful drives, 
beautiful gardens and lawns, the rich foliage and all 
the activity of this busy seaport town, the traveler 
is at once delighted and inspired by the scene. 
Arriving at Bangor, which is built upon the rocky 
cliffs forming the northern extremity of Count)- 



55 



Down, a ride of five miles on a jaunting car to 
Helen's Tower, in the midst of the demesne of the 
Marquis of Dufferin, is a pleasing excursion. Besides 
to a foreigner that jaunting car is a mystery and 




JAUNTING CAR. 

a surprise, as well as a distinctively national affair. 
It flourishes nowhere else on the earth. 

Whenever it has been transplanted to other coun- 
tries it has always met the fate of any other deli- 
cate exotic. I have been unable to find any an- 
cient or modern history of its introduction into the 
country, or of its sporadic origin, I was going to 
add to its evolution, but really believe it had no 
evolution, but that the Irish jaunting car is to-day 



56 

just what it was in the beginning and will continue 
to be until the end, for it is not likely that any 
St. Patrick will arise to banish it from the Em- 
erald Isle, as tradition informs us the snakes were 
cast out. In fact, it is a real part of the coun- 
try. No adequate description of it has ever been 
written and I shall doubtless utterly fail in the 
attempt. A one-horse vehicle with two small wheels, 
a longitudinal seat for two on either side, with a 
swinging foot-rest hanging over the wheels which 
is too narrow for an ordinary foot. At every turn 
of the road the passenger, unless he be a native, 
is liable to land upon his face on the pavement. 
Overcome with fear and real distress, he wears the 
very features of a condemned criminal bound for 
the scaffold. There being heavy falls of rain nearly 
every day, this indigenous instrument of torture 
has of course no cover. Between the two seats 
is a deep trough called a well, and when this be- 
comes full of water the result is extremely dis- 
quieting. If the passenger clutch an umbrella, the 
drainage therefrom never fails to find the neck of his 
fellow passenger on the opposite side and quenches 
for the present every incentive to religious medi- 
tation. And yet every Irish born individual can 
safely ride upon these cars as soon as he leaves 
his infantile cradle, and reveres the thing as he does 
the shamrock or the memory of a saint. The dri- 
ver sits perched on a throne between the two seats, 



57 



drives like Tarn O'Shanter fleeing from the witches, 
and with a beaming face will accept as large a tip 
as a New York cabman. It is not remarkable that 
poets have sung of this jaunting car, for did not 
Burns write an address to the de'il? The car would 
be as much out of place in America as a cannon in 
a parlor, to borrow one of Emerson's comparisons, 
and yet Ireland without it would not be Ireland at all. 




HELEN S TOWER. 



Helen's Tower stands upon a hill, and from its 
lofty summit a panorama of unsurpassed beauty 
greets the eye. The distant city, Belfast Lough, the 
open sea beyond, the north channel to the eastward, 
the distant shores of Scotland with Strangford Lough 



58 



and the Mourne mountains away to the south, are 
the most striking features. The tower was erected 
by the Marquis of Dufferin in commemoration of 
his mother, and is a token of fiHal affection wliich 
is as beautiful as it is rare in Ireland or any other 
country. 

Another journey by car from Newcastle at the foot 
of Slievc Donard, the loftiest mountain in Ulster 




SALMON LEAP — BALLYSHANNON. 



(2,796 feet) to Rostrevor and Warrenpoint, rivals the 
route on the north coast from the Giant's Causeway to 
Larne. At some of the highest points on the shore, 



59 

when the atmosphere is favorable, the Isle of Man 
can be seen twenty miles away. If we go across the 
country to the west coast, for a part of the jour- 
ney following Lough Erne already referred to, 
through B^lleek, renowned for its pottery, by Bally- 
shannon with its famous salmon fisheries, to Bun- 
doran, perched upon the rugged cliffs, which render 
that entire coast especially attractive, then returning 
through the rich farming district of County Tyrone 
and Antrim, we have throughout the entire journey 
to and from Belfast been most firmly impressed with 
the immeasurable possibilities of this province. 

It may be said that I am an enthusiast on this 
subject, and it cannot be denied. There are abun- 
dant reasons for such enthusiasm. Ulster is an ad- 
mirable place for recreation after the strife and tur- 
moil of life in a great metropolitan city. All my 
prejudices, due to ignorance of the country and her 
people, have disappeared after repeated visits, during 
which the green hills, mountains and lakes have be- 
come as familiar to me as the home of my child- 
hood, and like the form and features of tried and 
true friends, the recollection of them gladdens many 
an hour in the midst of exacting duties. The friends 
I have found among the genial, refined and hospita- 
ble inhabitants of Ulster hold fast my respect and 
esteem to a greater degree than those of any other 
country among the many I have visited. 



6o 



In the light of experience and a study of th. 
present condition of Ulster To • ,, ^ ^^^ 

idr^e a degree to immorta i/e the hi<tr.r.r a 
romance of the land of his nativity. ' ""' 

ERIN, OH ERIN 

O alo ^"": '^"^ bnght through the tears 
Of a long night of bondage thy spirit appears. 
The nations have fallen, and thou still art youn^ 

^nn. Oh Erin, though lonTif ^h" ^hir ""^ "^^ '^'^^• 
Thy star shall shine out when the proud'est shall fade 

The hly hes sleeping through winter's cold hour 
And d"'r' 1'^'' '°"^' '" ^^"-^ ""'-^^ 

AndM; ; '"• '^y ^^"'^'- i« past, 

And the hope that lived through it shall blossom at last. '► 



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